Greater New Orleans

Houston Rockets center Omer Asik, third from left, of Turkey, loses control of the ball under the basket as, from left, Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried, guard Aaron Brooks and forward Quincy Miller cover in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Denver on Wednesday, April 9, 2014. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
(David Zalubowski)

The New Orleans Pelicans will obtain center Omer Asik in a trade with the Houston Rockets, a league source confirmed late Wednesday night.

In a deal aimed at clearing salary-cap space, the Rockets will receive a 2015 first-round pick from the Pelicans, according to multiple media outlets. The draft pick included in the deal has protections. It will go to the Rockets if it falls between picks 4-19, ESPN reported. The Rockets also will include $1.5 million in cash as part of the deal.

The trade is expected to be finalized after the league's July moratorium.

Pelicans vice president of communications Greg Bensel said the team could not confirm the deal.

The 27-year-old Asik, who will earn $15 million in the final year of his three-year contract, will count just $8.3 million against the team's salary cap.

It's unclear how the Pelicans, who were expected to be about $7 million below next season's cap, will be able to absorb Asik salary or if the team has plans for a subsequent trade.

But it's obvious Asik was too enticing a talent for the Pelicans to pass up.

He averaged 5.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 0.8 in 20.2 minutes a game last season with the Rockets as the primary backup to Dwight Howard. He is expected to play a much bigger role with the Pelicans.

At 7-feet and 255 pounds, Asik will be counted on to form a formidable defensive front line with Pelicans All-Star power forward Anthony Davis.

The Pelicans have long been rumored to have interest in Asik, a four-year veteran who began his career in Chicago before spending the past two seasons with the Rockets.

This past season, the Pelicans were rumored to be interested in Asik, with reports that Pelicans sharp-shooting forward Ryan Anderson was being dangled to obtain Asik. But a league source said the Pelicans weren't interested in shipping out Anderson, and a deal wasn't reached.

The acquisition of Asik will help solidify the middle of the Pelicans' defense, which was porous at times throughout this past season.

With Asik in the fold, the Pelicans are three deep at center with 7-2 Alexis Ajinca and 7-0 Jeff Withey.

Both Ajinca and Withey showed signs of promise last season, but the Pelicans clearly made upgrading the center position a priority.

The play of the Pelicans' centers was mediocre and sporadic at best last season.

Greg Stiemsma was signed last offseason to compete for the starting job, but he was ineffective, averaging 2.9 points and 4.1 rebounds before being cut late in the season.

Meanwhile, Jason Smith, who won the job in preseason and started 27 games, averaged 9.7 points and 5.8 rebounds. He had his season cut short by season-ending knee surgery, though, and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Ajinca, who has been working with the Pelicans coaching staff this offseason and who plans to continue to work closely with Davis this summer in Las Vegas, started 30 games and averaged 5.9 points and 4.9 rebounds.

Withey, a rookie this past season, started four games late in the season and averaged 3.3 points and 2.6 rebounds.

Throughout his career, the big-bodied Asik has been known for his defense. Playing behind Howard in Houston last season, Asik didn't get the opportunity to build off his solid 2012-2013 season when he averaged a career-high 10.1 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks while starting all 82 games.

Relegated to a reserve role and fighting nagging injuries last season, Asik still shot 53.2 percent from the field and 61.9 percent from the free throw line.

Last offseason, he asked the Rockets for a trade. But that didn't happen until Wednesday night.

Asik's arrival leaves the Pelicans with one more gaping hole – small forward -- as the NBA Draft is set for Thursday (the Pelicans don't currently have a pick) and the start of free agency begins Monday.